Page 50 of Keeping Penny

“Asshole,” Laryn mumbled.

The others agreed—but Jen was the one who got up and walked over to where she’d left her purse on the counter when she’d arrived. Fred lifted his head to see where she was going, but when she came back to the living area with her wallet, he put his head down and closed his eyes again.

“It’s not a lot, but I’ve got eighty bucks here. I can get you more tomorrow. You need an emergency stash, so you can give it to this jerkoff if he ever finds you. So you can buy time to get Bowie to safety, and let your man and his friend have a chance to figure out how to neutralize him,” Jen said, holding out some cash.

“Oh! That’s an awesome idea!” Mandy exclaimed, and she too popped up and headed for her purse.

“No, no, no, I don’t want to take your money!” Penny said, feeling somehow ashamed her new friends were giving her cash.

“Tough shit,” Laryn said. She didn’t get up, instead leaning over on one butt cheek and pulling out a slender billfold from one of the pockets of her cargo pants. She held out some bills to Penny the same time Mandy returned with more money.

“I…don’t know what to say,” Penny said, staring at the cash through watery eyes.

Mandy took the money from Laryn and added it to her own, then picked up Penny’s hand and stuffed the bills into it.

“Say thank you,” she ordered a little sternly. “And when Tex and Pyro find this asshole, you can give it back. Or we’ll all go to Anchor Point and have a feast.”

Zita stood and went into the kitchen. She fumbled around in a cabinet for a moment before returning to the living room. She had one of those Stanley tumblers in her hand that were so popular a few years ago.

Penny knew firsthand there were about a dozen such tumblers in one of the cabinets in the kitchen. She’d helped Zita unpack the box they were all in one evening not too long ago. Zita had said she couldn’t bear to get rid of any of them, even though she certainly didn’t need twelve.

“My dad told me once to always have a backup stash of cash, just in case. I wanted to hide it somewhere that I wouldn’t see it every day and be tempted to spend it on stupid stuff⁠—”

“Like another drinking cup you won’t use for more than a week?” Laryn asked with a grin.

“Shut it,” Zita said, grinning back. Then she turned to Penny as she removed the lid and tipped the tumbler forward, showing her roommate what was inside. “And since I knew I wouldn’t throw away any of my cups, and no one would think of looking here for cash, I thought this was a good place to keep it. I’ve got about five hundred saved up in here, and this, plus what the others have contributed, should hopefully be enough to buy you some time, in case that asshole does show up. We’ll go to the bank and get it exchanged for big bills that you can keep on you at all times. You can hand it over, then hightail it back here and call Pyro.”

Penny was crying now for real. She had no idea what she’d done to deserve such good friends. All the memes and videos she’d seen online about best friends had been kind of a mystery to her. But no longer. She’d officially do anything for these women.

“I don’t know what to say,” she whispered.

“Say thank you!” Mandy repeated, smiling.

“Thank you,” Penny parroted. “Thank you so much. I swear when my debt is paid, I’ll pay you all back.”

“I’m guessing there probably is no debt,” Laryn said, sounding disgusted. “Men like Colvin, they feed on fear. And why would he need forty thousand bucks if he’s already got millions? He’s one of those people who’ll never have enough money. He’ll always want more, and he won’t do one damn good thing with it either. He’ll simply hoard it, use it to spread hate and do evil things instead of using it to feed the hungry, or make the lives of people who really need it better. Mark my words, he’s up to his eyeballs in something criminal. Something more than simply extorting money. I feel it in my bones.”

She probably wasn’t wrong. Every time she’d seen the man, Penny felt dirty afterward. She agreed with everything Laryn said wholeheartedly. But she didn’t want to waste energy thinking about what else Colvin might be involved in. All she wanted was to raise Bowie to be a good human and keep her safe. To make sure her little girl knew she was loved and wanted.

“Will you let us know if Pyro finds out anything? Like, if this Colvin guy has come to the US or what name he’s using?” Jen asked. “We can help you keep an eye out for him, if need be.”

“I will,” Penny agreed, feeling overwhelmed.

Zita crouched to give her a hug. Then, obviously realizing a change of subject was in order, she turned to Laryn as she stood. “When are you going to find out if you’re cooking one or two humans in your belly? And for the record, I vote for two. That way, we won’t all have to fight over one baby.”

“Right, so you can fight over two?” Laryn asked dryly.

Everyone laughed.

“Soon,” she continued. “We have an appointment with my OBGYN in the next couple of weeks. We’re supposed to find out then.”

“Do you want twins?” Jen asked.

Laryn shrugged. “I want what most mothers want. A healthy baby. But, truth be told, I kind of would love twins. Tate was one, as you all know, and listening to him talk about the relationship between him and his brother makes me want that for my own child.”

“His brother’s a Navy SEAL, right?” Penny asked. She’d heard about Nate one night from Pyro, when he told her about the crazy flight he and Casper had endured—and the ensuing hike through a jungle—while rescuing his brother and a civilian woman, who was now his wife, after they’d escaped from an Iranian jail cell.

“Yup. But my man is the good-looking one,” Laryn said with a grin.